Despite Rape and other Colonial Atrocities, Pinoys still love America. Why is that?

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THERE'S ONLY ONE OBVIOUS ANSWER: MONEY!!

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Pinoy nurses seeking US employment up by 65%

By MAYEN JAYMALIN
The Philippine Star

Despite the opening of other markets, more Filipino nurses are seeking employment in the United States.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said that over 15,000 new Filipino nurses sought employment in the US  a figure that is 65 percent higher than the number of nurses who sought jobs in the US in the previous year.

"A total of 15,171 Filipinos took the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nurses and this represents an increase of 5,990 or 65 percent compared to the 9,181 Filipinos that took the NCLEX for the first time in the whole of 2005," Herrera said.

Herrera said the figure excludes repeaters or those who failed and took the examination again.

According to Herrera, the Philippines topped the list of five countries with the highest number of first-time NCLEX examinees in 2006. India came second, with 4,395 examinees; followed by South Korea, with 2,145; Canada, with 943; and Cuba, with 537.

"Passing the NCLEX is usually the final step in the nurse licensure process in the US," Herrera said. "The number of people taking the examination is a good indicator of how many new US-educated as well as foreign-trained nurses are trying to enter the profession in the US, according to the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing."

Herrera said the government should encourage the deployment of Filipino nurses and other professionals instead of the unskilled workers: "We must consciously discourage the overseas deployment of relatively unskilled workers such as domestic helpers. Their skills are easily replaceable. This is why they are undeniably far more susceptible to employer abuse."

Meanwhile, the US not only accepts nurses who finish four-year nursing courses but also needs graduates of short nursing vocational courses to man the front lines of nursing services there, a visiting nursing official said.

This was announced by Gregory Tyrone Howard, president of the National Federation of Licensed Practical of Licensed Practical Nurse of America and member, Committee of Licensed Practical Nurse, US Commission Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS).

Howard said that, in the US, graduates of a 15-month course in practical nursing can have gainful employment after they have taken and passed the national Commission Licensure Exam for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN).

Additional nine-month training in Applied Science in Nursing will qualify them to take up the NCLEX Registered Nurse and can be full-fledged registered nurses (RNs).

Unfortunately, Howard said, the Philippines focused only on sending nurses to the US who have finished four-year courses. This is because of the lack of accredited vocational nursing curriculum and schools, he said.

Howard is in the Philippines on invitation of the Philippine Paramedical and Technical Schools (PPTS) as this years commencement speaker for its graduating classes in the different PPTS branches all over the country.

The PPTS is the first school system that has a US-approved curriculum for practical nurses and those who are qualified to take Practical Nursing exams in the US.

The vocational nursing education is a "ladderized" program where high school graduates who cannot afford to take up a four-year nursing course can enroll in accredited schools offering License Practical Nurse (LPN) courses which take only 15 months to complete.

After completing the LPN course, graduates can apply for jobs in the US and are assured of visa placements. While waiting for the processing of their papers, which will take some time, they can take the nine-month Applied Science in Nursing program, which will qualify to take up licensure as RNs.

"The good news is that, to qualify to work in the US as a nurse, therefore, needs only a 24 month study program. Supervisory jobs however will require Bachelors in Nursing degrees," Howard said. "But not all can be heads and supervisors and medical institutions, care centers, hospitals, clinics, will be manned by personnel who have undergone practical and applied nursing training programs."

Howard will also conduct dialogues with institutions offering vocational health programs like Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and other paramedical schools and orient them in upgrading their standards so their course graduates can be accredited in the US.

Meanwhile, Secretary Dante Ang, chairman of the Presidential Commission on Overseas Filipinos, said the government continues to exert efforts to convince US nursing groups of the integrity of the Philippine nursing system following the licensure examinations leakage scandal last year.

He said that, based on his meetings with CGFNS, NCLEX and other groups, the US officials are very concerned about the system of screening nursing graduates.

"The government, through the Professional Regulatory Commission, (PRC) will come up with a system that will minimize human intervention in the licensure examinations," Ang said. With Paolo Romero